Lampholder



March 10, 1970 c. w. HEATH 3,500,287

LAKPHOLDER Filed June 26. 1968 INVENTOR CLARENCE WILLANS HEATH BY PMs-M.

ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,500,287 LAMPHOLDER Clarence Willans Heath, Bleasby, England, assignor to United Carr Incorporated, Boston, Mass, a corporation of Delaware Filed June 26, 1968, Ser. No. 740,364 Claims priority, application Great Britain, June 28, 1967, 29,873/67 Int. Cl. Hk H12; H01]: 15/00 US. Cl. 339-17 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A lampholder for capless type lamps comprises a hollow body having a pair .of contacts located in a lamp base receiving cavity, each contact comprising opposed resilient arms for gripping the lamp base therebetween, some of the arms have means of making electrical contact with contacts on the lamp base and some are formed with resilient fingers for snapping into an aperture in a support.

This invention relates to lampholders for use with capless or wedge base type lamp bulbs.

The present invention provides a lampholder for a capless type lamp comprising a body of insulating material of oblong-like shape in cross-section formed with an oblong shaped cavity having an open end for receiving the correspondingly shaped base of the lamp, the body having a flange extending laterally outwards at the said open end of the cavity, a pair of contacts being located within the cavity each contact comprising a pair of opposed resilient arms integrally connected at the inner ends by a bridging element, the contacts being arranged in opposed relation within the cavity so that when inserted, the lamp base is resiliently gripped between the opposed arms of the respective pairs of the contacts, one arm of each of the contacts having means for electrical engagement with a contact on the lamp base and the arms of at least one of the pairs being formed with integral resilient fingers extending outwardly of the said end of the cavity so as to permit it to be engaged in an aperture in a support to co-operate with the flange to secure the holder in assembly with the support.

The lampholder according to one embodiment of the invention is particularly adapted for assembly in an aperture in a printed circuit panel, but the invention is not limited to this as according to another embodiment the lampholder is adapted to be mounted in a housing which may be made of metal or insulating material.

The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is an elevational view of a lampholder according to one embodiment of the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view on the line 2-2 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is an elevational view of a lampholder according to a second embodiment of the invention;

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view on the line 44 of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is an elevational view of a lampholder according to a third embodiment of the invention; and

FIGURE 6 is a sectional view on the line 66 of FIGURE 5.

As illustrated in FIGURES 1 and 2, the lampholder comprises a body 1 of oblong shape in cross-section formed of synthetic plastics and having a lamp base receiving cavity 2 also of oblong shape in cross-section. Adjacent the open or lamp base receiving end of the cavity the body 1 has a peripheral flange 3. Extending 3,500,287 Patented Mar. 10, 1970 parallel to the two wider sides of the oblong shaped body Walls 4, 5, are provided integral with the flange.

A pair of contacts is assembled in the cavity 2, each contact comprising opposed parallel arms 6, 7, located in axial grooves in the walls of the cavity, the arms being connected at their inner ends by an integral bridging element 8 having a resilient tab 9 adapted to snap under an abutment 9 at the inner end of the cavity. As shown more particularly in broken lines in FIGURE 1, the arm 7 is formed with an axially extending flange 10 for making electrical engagement with a contact on the side Wall of the base of the lamp when the latter is inserted into the holder. The arm 6 is formed with a projection 11 adapted to engage in a recess normally formed in a side wall of the base of a wedge-type lamp. The arms 6, 7, are provided at their outer ends with cranked or oflset portions 12, 13, respectively having resilient fingers 14, 15, extending from their outer ends. The fingers extend axially outwardly of the body so as to lie between the adjacent ends of the respective walls 4, 5. Each finger comprises inwardly and outwardly inclined portions forming a knuckle or shoulder 16, 17.

The pair of contacts are so disposed in the cavity that the arm 6 of one of the contacts is in facing relation to the arm 7 of the other contact and the arm 7 of the first mentioned contact is in facing relation to the arm 6 of the said other contact.

The base of a wedge-type lamp is adapted to be in serted into the cavity between the arms of the contacts so that contacts on opposed sides of the base of the lamp will be engaged by the flanges 10 on the arms 6 and the projections 11 will engage in a recess in the lamp base and so retain it in assembly.

As illustrated in FIGURES 1 and 2 the lampholder is particularly adapted for assembly with a panel such as A having printed circuitry C on its face. As shown, the panel is formed with an aperture B having tapered walls. The aperture is of oblong shape corresponding to that of the holder but of slightly larger dimensions, and the holder is assembled by inserting the walls 4, 5, into the aperture B from the underside of the panel. As the walls are moved through the aperture, the resilient fingers 14, 15, will flex and when the flange 3 of the holder abuts the underside of the panel the shoulders 16, 17, on the resilient fingers will overlie the upper edge of the aperture to retain the holder in assembly with the panel. Parts of the printed circuitry C .on the panel with which the lamp is to be electrically connected extend to the edges of the aperture B and are engaged by the fingers 14, 15, to complete a circuit to the lamp in the holder.

The modified embodiment illustrated in FIGURES 3 and 4 is similar to that illustrated in FIGURES 1 and 2, and like parts are given like reference numerals with the addition of the suflix a. The lampholder of this embodiment is adapted to be mounted in a housing D, for example, an instrument case by snapping the resilient fingers 14a, 15a into an aperture in an insulated part of the housing or case. In this particular application of the invention the bridging elements 8a of each of the contacts are formed with integral tailpieces 18, 19, extending through slots in the bottom of the lampholder body 1a so as to project outwardly as shown in the figures for attachment of leads from a battery or other source of electrical supply.

The embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIG- URES 5 and 6 is particularly adapted for use where the circuit to the lamp is completed by an earth return. In FIGURES 5 and 6 like parts to those referred to in the other embodiments are given like reference numerals with the addition of the suffix b. As shown in FIGURES 5 and 6, one of the contacts is provided with an integral tailpiece 1812 similar to 18a of FIGURE 3, but this contact is not provided with resilient fingers at its upper or opposite end. The other of the contacts is substantially identical to the contact illustrated in FIGURES 1 and 2, that is to say, it has resilient fingers 15b at one end 'but no projecting tailpiece. The lampholder of this embodiment is adapted to be snapped into an aperture in a metal support which provides an earth return. The lampholder is inserted into the aperture so that the fingers 15b snap over the edge to retain the lampholder in assembly. The projecting tailpiece 18b is adapted to be connected with the positive side of a battery or other source of electric supply and the circuit is completed through the lamp and the resilient finger 1512 which is earthed to the metal support E.

As shown, the inner surfaces of the walls 4, 5, 4a, 5a, and 4b, and 5b are formed with cam surfaces 20 engageable by the end of the lamp base as it is inserted into the holder, the cam surfaces serving to effect the automatic orientation of the lamp base to align it with the cavity in the body of the lampholder.

What is claimed is:

1. A lampholder for a capless type lamp having a base provided with electrical contacts, said lampholder comcavity, a pair of contacts located within said cavity each contact comprising a pair of opposed resilient arms having inner ends integrally connected by a bridging element, said contacts being arranged in opposed relation within the cavity so that when inserted, the lamp :base is resiliently gripped between the opposed arms of the respective pairs of the contacts, means on one arm of each of said contacts for electrical engagement with said contacts on the lamp base and integral resilient fingers on the arms of at least one of the pairs extending outwardly of the said end of the cavity so as to permit it to be engaged in an aperture in a support to co-operate with said flange to secure said holder in assembly with said support.

2. A lampholder according to claim 1, wherein the means on the arms for engaging the contact on the lamp base comprises a flange-like element integral with the said arms.

3. A lampholder according to claim 1, wherein the arms not provided with the said means are each formed with a projection adapted to engage a recess in the side wall of the lamp base.

4. A lampholder according to claim 1, wherein each of the pair of contacts is formed with said resilient fingers, the fingers including portions adapted to make electrical engagement with conductor elements on the support with which the holder is to be assembled.

5. A lampholder according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the contacts is formed with a tailpiece extending through the base of the cavity outwardly of the body of the holder.

6. A lampholder assembly comprising an apertured support of insulating material, printed circuitry on one face of said support and extending over the wall of said aperture, a lampholder for a capless type lamp assembled in said aperture and comprising a hollow body of insulating material of oblong-like shape in cross-section, an oblong shaped cavity having an open end defined by said body for receiving a correspondingly shaped base of said lamp, a flange extending laterally outwards at the said open end of said cavity, a pair of contacts located within said cavity, each contact comprising a pair of opposed resilient arms having inner ends integrally connected by a bridging element, the contacts being arranged in opposed relation within the cavity so that when inserted, the lamp base is resiliently gripped between the opposed arms of the respective pairs of the contacts, means on one arm of each of said contacts for electrical engagement with an electrical element on the lamp base and integral resilient fingers on the arms of each pair of arms extending outwardly of the said end of the cavity and engaging the walls of the said aperture in said support to make electrical engagement with the printed circuitry and cooperate with said flange to secure the holder in assembly with said support.

7. A lampholder assembly comprising an apertured metal support and a lampholder for a capless type lamp assembled in said aperture, the lampholder comprising a hollow body of insulating material of oblong-like shape in cross-section, an oblong shaped cavity having an open end defined by said body for receiving a correspondingly shaped base of said lamp, a flange extending laterally outwards at the said open end of said cavity, a pair of contacts located within said cavity each contact comprising a pair of opposed resilient arms having inner ends integrally connected by a bridging element, the contacts being arranged in opposed relation within the cavity so that when inserted, the lamp base is resiliently gripped between the opposed arms of the respective pairs of the contacts, means on one arm of each of said contacts for electrical engagement with an element on the lamp base, at lease one integral resilient finger on the arms of one of the contacts, said finger extending outwardly of the said end of the cavity and engaging and making electrical contact with the wall of the aperture in said support and co-operating with said flange to secure the holder in assembly with said support, a tailpiece integral with the other of said contacts and extending outwardly of said body of said holder.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,742,627 4/ 1956 Lazzery et al. 3,017,599 l/ 1962 Loesch. 3,049,689 8/ 1962 Clarkson.

FOREIGN PATENTS 1,001,424 8/ 1965 Great Britain.

MARVIN A. CHAMPION, Primary Examiner PATRICK A. CLIFFORD, Assistant Examiner US. 01. X.R. 339-128, 17 

